The terminal insertion apparatus described in Prior Art FIG. 5 (see JP10-112229A), for example, is a terminal insertion apparatus which inserts a terminal attached to an electrical wire into a terminal insertion hole of a connector housing during the production of a wire harness.
Prior Art FIG. 5 is a side view of a terminal insertion apparatus according to JP10-112229A. Prior Art FIG. 6 is a side view showing a terminal insertion head provided in the terminal insertion apparatus shown in Prior Art FIG. 5.
The terminal insertion apparatus 50 shown in Prior Art FIG. 5 comprises a pair of X-axis beams 52 installed on frames 51, a Y-axis beam 53 supported on the respective X-axis beams 52 in a movable manner, a terminal insertion head 54 capable of moving along the Y-axis beam 53, and a connector gripping unit 55 similarly capable of moving along the Y-axis beam 53.
As is shown in Prior Art FIG. 5, the terminal insertion head 54 is attached to the rail 57 of the Y-axis beam 53 in a movable manner via a linear motion guide (LM guide) 56.
As is shown in Prior Art FIGS. 5 and 6, the terminal insertion head 54 comprises a frame 58 fastened to the linear motion guide 56, a first base plate part 60 attached to the frame 58 via a ball screw unit 59 so as to be freely raised and lowered, and a second base plate part 62 attached to the first base plate part 60 via a vertical cylinder 61 so as to be freely raised and lowered.
An electrical wire separation unit 63 is installed at the front end of the first base plate part 60. Furthermore, a terminal gripping unit 64 is installed on the second base plate part 62.
The electrical wire separation unit 63 comprises a pair of electrical wire separation claws 65 capable of opening and closing in the left-right direction (depth direction in Prior Art FIGS. 5 and 6), and a chuck cylinder 66 that causes the electrical wire separation claws 65 to open and close.
The terminal gripping unit 64 comprises a pair of front-side electrical wire gripping hands 68, a pair of rear-side electrical wire gripping hands 69, a first chuck cylinder 70 that causes the front-side electrical wire gripping hands 68 to open and close in the left -right direction, and a second chuck cylinder 71 that causes the rear-side electrical wire gripping hands 69 to open and close in the left-right direction. Moreover, the terminal gripping unit 64 comprises a first horizontal cylinder 72 that causes the entire terminal gripping unit 64 to advance and retract, and a second horizontal cylinder 73 that causes only the rear-side electrical wire gripping hands 69 to advance and retract.
When the terminal C attached to each electrical wire W is to be inserted into a terminal insertion hole of a connector housing 67 by means of the terminal insertion apparatus 50, the ball screw unit 59 first lowers the terminal insertion head 54, and the vertical cylinder 61 lowers the two sets of electrical wire gripping hands 68 and 69. Then, the two sets of electrical wire gripping hands 68 and 69 grip the terminal of an electrical wire W that is set in an electrical wire clip 74.
Next, the ball screw unit 59 raises the entire terminal insertion head 54, and the vertical cylinder 61 raises the two sets of electrical wire gripping hands 68 and 69. Then, the terminal insertion head 54 moves along the Y-axis beam 53 so as to be above the connector housing 67 that is gripped by the connector gripping unit 55.
Furthermore, the ball screw unit 59 again lowers the terminal insertion head 54, thus causing the electrical wire separation claws 65 of the electrical wire separation unit 63 to be inserted between lead electrical wires (not shown in the figures) that are led out from the connector housing 67. Moreover, the chuck cylinder 66 opens the electrical wire separation claws 65, so that a state is created in which the lead electrical wires are separated.
Afterward, the first horizontal cylinder 72 on the upper side causes the two sets of electrical wire gripping hands 68 and 69 to advance integrally with the second base plate part 62. As a result, the terminal C is temporarily inserted into a terminal insertion hole of the connector housing 67.
Then, the front-side electrical wire gripping hands 68 are opened, the second horizontal cylinder 73 is extended, and the electrical wire W is pushed only by the rear-side electrical wire gripping hands 69. As a result, the terminal C is completely inserted into the terminal insertion hole of the connector housing 67.
Because lead electrical wires of terminals C that have already been inserted into terminal insertion holes of the connector housing 67 can be separated using such a terminal insertion apparatus 50, it is possible to reliably perform the insertion of each terminal C into a terminal insertion hole of the connector housing 67.
However, in the terminal insertion apparatus 50 shown in Prior Art FIGS. 5 and 6, it is necessary to perform the insertion of terminals C attached to electrical wires W into terminal insertion holes of the connector housing 67 for one terminal at a time for each electrical wire W during the production of a wire harness. Accordingly, it is difficult to increase the wire harness production efficiency.